General Manager at Kickstand Cafe

Kickstand Cafe is an independent, community-oriented cafe in Arlington Center. We opened in late 2013 and quickly became a mainstay of Arlington and its surrounding towns. People have told us (we are not making this up) that they decided to move to Arlington after visiting Kickstand, and even that Kickstand saved [their] life; one customer called it Arlington's living room. It is a special place to the town, and it is a special place to us, its owners. We have worked hard to grow a cafe that is welcoming, accepting, warm and human and that also serves great food and drinks.

Kickstand is about as far out of the corporate mold as we could be. We are careful and well-informed of standard practices in the industry, but we never let ourselves be constrained by them. Creativity and caring are our watchwords, and so far, this has served us very well.

We have begun a search to replace our General Manager. For our first 8 years, one of our owners, Emily, also served as our GM. She steered us through the pandemic and once we were on the other side of that, was ready to step back and take a break. For the last 2.5 years, our daily operations have been in the very able hands of our first GM. His life is taking him to another part of the country, and so, we are seeking our next steward, aiming to have that person up and running (and running things!) by late October.

We seek a GM who is excited about upholding our values and helping us evolve to an even better place!. We seek candidates with a proven track record of managing a cafe (or similar).

The first requirement for this job: you must love Kickstand.

Maybe you already do, or maybe you have never even heard of it.

If the latter: come by, get a cup of coffee, and hang out on our patio. If you like what you see and can imagine yourself here, terrific! If you think, this is really not my vibe, then this is not the job for you. (If your reaction is Wow, this place is amazing! And I can already see how it could be more amazing), then get your resume here ASAP.

In addition to loving Kickstand, you will need to be able to:

-Manage a staff of 20+ employees, including hiring, training and scheduling.

-Quickly learn every aspect of our operations. You will be able to step into any role, be it barista, sandwich maker, shelf stocker, you name it.

-Maintain inventory, submit orders and manage relationships with vendors.

-Work with kitchen staff to develop new offerings and maintain quality.

In addition to your ability to perform these tasks, you must:

-Be a kind person who gets joy out of making customers happy and cares about the well-being of your staff.

-Love good, healthy food and coffee and care about how it s made and from where it is sourced.

-Like solving problems and thinking creatively.

-Have a good sense of humor.

This is a full-time salaried position. Competitive and generous pay (starting range 75K-90K, depending on experience).

We are open Tuesday-Sunday, 8am-3pm so no late nights here!

If you think you may be a good fit, please send us a note explaining why and include your resume. We are excited to talk to you!